Abū l-Ḥajjāj Mujāhid ibn Jabr al-Qāriʾ (642–722 CE) was a Tabi' and one of the major early Islamic scholars. His tafsīr of the Qur'an (exegesis/commentary) is believed to be the earliest existing written exegetical source, although only fragments of it have reached us from the Umayyad era.

Biography

His full nickname is often written as "Mujahid bin Jabir, Maula As-Saib bin Abi As-Saib, Al-Makhzumi, Al-Quraysh". The Nisba of al-Makhzumi were because he was a servant (mawla) of someone from the Banu Makhzum tribe. Mujahid is said to have studied under Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali ibn Abi Talib until his martyrdom. At that point, he began to study under Ibn Abbas, a companion of Muhammad known as the father of Qur'anic exegesis. Mujahid ibn Jabr was known to be willing to go to great lengths to discover the true meaning of a verse in the Qur'an, and was considered to be a well-travelled man. However, there is no evidence he ever journeyed outside of the Arabian Peninsula.

Works

It is related by Ibn Sa'd in the Tabaqat (6:9) and elsewhere that he went over the explanation of the Qur'an together with Ibn 'Abbas thirty times. Mujahid ibn Jabr is said to be relied upon in terms of tafsir according to Sufyan al-Thawri, who said: "If you get Mujahid's tafsir, it is enough for you." His exegesis in general followed these four principles: Al-Tabari's Jami' al-bayan attributes a significant amount of exegetical material to Mujahid.

Legacy

The view of Islamic Scholarship

He has been classed as a Thiqah (i.e. very reliable) hadith narrator. Al-A'mash said: After praising him in similar terms al-Dhahabi said: "The Ummah is unanimous on Mujahid being an Imam who is worthy in Ihtijaj.